By Tina Dinzl-Pederson, Camano, Class of 2016 who is contracted to run this special summer project
written July 5, 2022
Summer Pop ups at Camano Island beaches are off to a good start; 116 people visited our pop up in June, sharing nature, marine stories and questions while learning about Sound Water Stewards and environmental stewardship. Most are local, but visitors cover an area from Seattle to Bellingham.
June 16 Barnum Point. A day of Bald Eagles. One person counted 41. Questions and stories about eagles. How to identify a juvenile and adult. Why were so many there? Listening to people’s stories, it seems like eagles were feeding on food made available by the low tides.
June 23 Barnum Point. Looking at things close up for kids. Hand lens and microscope let kids zoom in on the tiny details on crab molts and clam shells. Got them thinking about things they saw at the beach. A young girl drew a picture of an eagle she saw.
June 30 Iverson Preserve. A sandy beach and a hobbit trail. Today, Lisa Truscott, class of 2022, volunteered to be on the beach answering questions with information. We post tide information for the day and what is being seen at the beach and park on a whiteboard. People appreciate the information with many looking at it. Lisa suggests we pose a question each week and visitors bring back their answer. Met a 4-year-old future geologist, on his way home from the beach. He had rocks, each a different kind; granite, basalt, one with quartz veining and a conglomerate among others. We talked about ancient glaciers, how rocks were deposited on Camano and Columbian Mammoths. Interesting information for him and his mom. He plans to keep looking at interesting things on the beach, he might find a mammoth tooth someday!
As an environmental educator and host for the summer pop-ups, some days I wonder if my efforts can make a difference in this world. You don’t always get a chance to find out the result, but lives are changed for the better, and hopefully more balance is achieved in marine areas we love so much. We have our first winner of a copy of GTWE, Jennifer Corser of Stanwood, our first recipient of a free copy. She learned about marine stewardship at our Iverson pop-up on June 30. She enjoyed looking at a copy of the book at the pop-up and now is happy to learn and explore more area beaches with her copy!
MAKE PLANS NOW to find Tina on a Thursday between now and September 1, 2022.
